The two suspects switch seats, caught by a street surveillance camera.

A taxi driver and his drunk passenger face dangerous driving charges after switching seats during a recent drive, police said on Monday.

Police in Putuo District received a call at 1:22am on January 31 from the driver surnamed Liu, who claimed his drunk passenger asked to drive his taxi near the intersection of Qingyu and Zhenguangroads and ignore traffic rules along the way.

Police arrived and took Liu and his passenger surnamed Yang to the police station for further investigation.

Police learned that Yang got in Liu’s taxi in Changning District at 1:05am that night, and started to quarrel with him over his driving skills.

Liu dared Yang to take the wheel, which he did but refused to wear a seat belt and ignored traffic rules.

Liu, who feared that Yang’s traffic violations would be captured by surveillance cameras and cause him problems, grabbed the steering wheel from him after he threatened to beat Liu up.

Tests showed Yang had 101mg/100ml of alcohol in his blood, exceeding the drunk driving threshold of 80mg/100ml.

Both Liu and Yang were placed under coercive restrictive measures pending charges.